Desert Phlox
Phlox tenuifolia
Photographed along Rackensack Canyon, Maricopa Co., Arizona. April 5, 2009.
FLOWERS: White tubular flowers with five, gradually flared petals (funnelform). The throat is yellow.
Blooming mid spring. The style and stamens are down inside the tubular throat. At the style tip are three stigmas.
ANNUAL: Spring herbaceous annual with frail stems that may grow
elongate and vine-like up and through other woody shrubs. Other Phlox spp. in Arizona have shoots short and branched.
LEAVES: Opposite leaves are small; elyptic to almost linear in shape.
RANGE: Found mostly in partially shady canyons above 700 m
elevation. According to USDA profile this plant is not found in the USA beyond
Arizona. Few of the dozen or so other Phlox species found in Arizona are likely to be found at the lower elevations in the Sonoran Desert.
FRUIT: Dry capsule with a couple of seeds.
UNARMED. No thorns.